Application platform development environment

ABSTRACT

A method for deploying a web-based application from a development site to a client site is described in which procedural logic of the web-based application is captured as declarative statements and stored in database objects managed by the database server. During operation of the application, a request indicating a page number of one of the pages is received from a user to perform an operation within the application. An instruction is retrieved from the database based on the page number, and the request is completed based on performing the retrieved instruction. The instructions may include a branch, a computation, a validation, or other kind of processing data.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/356,740 filed on Feb. 15, 2002, the contents ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to computer systems and more particularlyto an application platform deployment environment for web-basedapplications.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most web-based applications today are designed in accordance with thethree-tier model. Referring to FIG. 8, the first tier of the three-tiermodel includes a web client 801, which is typically a browser executingon a personal computer. The web client 801 is in communication via anetwork 803, e.g. an intranet or Internet, with an application server811 in the second tier. The web client 801 interacts with theapplication server 811 using hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requeststo get web pages and forms from the application server 811 and post datafrom completed forms to the application server 811. In someimplementations, a web server (not shown) is employed to relay the HTTPrequests between the network application server 811 and the applicationserver 811.

The application server 811 of the second tier in the three-tier modelcomprises several components. In particular, the application server 811includes executable code 813, which is responsible for implementing theprocedural aspects of the web-based application. For example, if theweb-based application is an on-line catalog, then the executable code813 would handle the validation and processing of form data receivedfrom the web client 801 for purchasing a product, calculation of newresults such as shipping costs, and generation of hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) or extensible markup language (XML) output to be sent tothe web client 801, for example, to display information about theproduct or confirming purchase of the product. The executable code 813is also responsible for managing user session state 815, which includestransient information about the user, such as the user's name oridentity, and which pages the user has visited. The session state 815 istypically stored in virtual memory on the application server 811.

Typically, the results of the user's interaction with the web-basedapplication results need to be saved in a persistent memory. Forexample, if the user of the on-line catalog purchases a product, thenthe application server 811 will record the user's order using a databaseserver 821 on the third tier. For on-line catalog applications, thedatabase server 821 is commonly an on-line transaction processing (OLTP)database server. The database server 821 stores the information receivedfrom the application server 811 as application data 823 in a database.The database server 821 is also configured to fetch previously storeddata in response to requests from the application server 811.

Although the three-tier model is popular, the model suffers from severaldisadvantages. For example, three-tier web applications are difficult todevelop, distribute, and deploy. Most of the development effort isfocused in the second tier, in which the developer of the webapplication codes all the procedural logic and session managementfunctions for the web application in a third-generation language (3GL)such as C, C++, Visual Basic, and Java. The application code is compiledand tested on a development machine and uploaded to the applicationserver 811. If multiple developers are involved, which is true for mostnon-trivial web applications, the developers must coordinate theiraccess to the source code files, compile, and test the application onthe development machine. The source code revision control andcompilation mechanisms are unsophisticated and generally require acommand-line interface to be used. Therefore, access to the developmentmachine for those developers on the road, in different parts of theworld, or otherwise local is difficult because the non-local developershave to telnet and login to the development machine and obtain a commandline prompt.

Distributing updates to web-based application is problematic because itrequires shutting down the application 811, installing the newapplication code 813, testing the installation, and only then permittingusers to use the application server 811. Business-critical web sites,however, are operating 24-hours a day and seven days a week and thedowntime involved in upgrading a three-tier web-based application mayresult in a considerable loss of sales.

Therefore, there is need for an application platform environment uponwhich it is straightforward to develop and deploy web-based applications

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

These and other needs are addressed by the present invention bycapturing the procedural logic of the web-based application asdeclarative statements and storing the declarative statements indatabase objects managed by the database server. In this scenario,developing and upgrading web-based applications are straightforward: thedevelopers merely update tables in the database to impart additionalfunctionality. When the upgrade application is properly tested, then theusers can be switched over instantaneously, by aliasing the tables fromwhich the users obtain the logic of the application.

Accordingly, one aspect of the invention relates to a method andsoftware for operating a web-based application in which a request isreceived from a user to perform an operation within the application. Theapplication includes a collection of pages stored in a database and therequest indicates a page number of one of the pages. An instruction isretrieved from the database based on the page number, and the request iscompleted based on performing the retrieved instruction. The instructionmay include a branch, a computation, a validation, other kind ofprocessing data.

Another aspect of the invention pertains to method for deploying aweb-based application from a development site to a client site. Tablesstoring the application in a first database at the development site areupdated and then distributed from the development site to a seconddatabase at the client site. The contents of the tables distributed fromthe development site are then transferred to corresponding tables at theclient site in a single transaction.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present inventionare readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply byillustrating a number of particular embodiments and implementations,including the best mode contemplated for carrying out the presentinvention. The present invention is also capable of other and differentembodiments, and its several details can be modified in various obviousrespects, all without departing from the spirit and scope of the presentinvention. Accordingly, the drawing and description are to be regardedas illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example, and not by wayof limitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings and in whichlike reference numerals refer to similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an architecture of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 shows the user interface of an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3 depicts an implementation of display templates stored in adatabase in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts an implementation of application logic stored in adatabase in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the high-level operation of anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of processing a page anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 depicts a computer system that can be used to implement anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 depicts an architecture of a three-tier web application.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

A system, method, and software for application platform development anddeployment are described. In the following description, for the purposesof explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order toprovide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It isapparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present inventionmay be practiced without these specific details or with an equivalentarrangement. In other instances, well-known structures and devices areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessarily obscuringthe present invention.

In a database management system, data is stored in one or more datacontainers, each container contains records, and the data within eachrecord is organized into one or more fields. In relational databasesystems, the data containers are referred to as tables, the records arereferred to as rows, and the fields are referred to as columns. Inobject-oriented databases, the data containers are referred to as objectclasses, the records are referred to as objects, and the fields arereferred to as attributes. Other database architectures may use otherterminology.

Systems that implement the present invention are not limited to anyparticular type of data container or database architecture. However, forthe purpose of explanation, the terminology and examples used hereinshall be that typically associated with relational databases. Thus, theterms “table,” “row,” and “column” shall be used herein to referrespectively to the data container, record, and field.

Conceptual Overview

With reference to FIG. 1, a web-based application, in accordance withone embodiment of the present invention, comprises a collection ofrelated pages 101, referred to as a flow 100. Each flow 100 correspondsto a separate web-based application and is identified by a “Flow ID,”which is preferable an integer. Each page 101 is identified by a numeric“Page ID,” a name, and a number of text attributes such as a title,header, and footer. The text attributes (not shown in FIG. 1) are usedto the label each page 101 that is displayed to the user. The page 101may also include additional content such as a navigation bar 103, tabs105, and buttons 107. The page 101 may also contain one or more pageregions 110 and 120, each of which may include a one or more items orbuttons. For example, item 111 of page region 110 is a list box. Thepage 101 illustrated in FIG. 1 is for purpose of example and the presentinvention is not limited to the particular user interface componentsillustrated therein.

Each page 101 is a building block of the web-based application andpresents an interface for displaying information to the user of theweb-based application or obtaining information from the user. The userinteracts with the web-based application by using a browser or other webclient to visit the various pages 101 of the flow 100. In some cases,the initial page the user visit requires the user to authenticate for asession.

The web-based application is responsible for generating the markup foreach page 101 so that the user's web client can render the markup anddisplay the page to the user. At each page 101, the user may enterinformation in items 111 of the page and press a button 107 to send or“post” the entered information to the web-based application.Alternatively, the user may click on the navigation bar 103, any of thetabs 105, or any of the buttons 107.

Upon posting information or upon clicking on a rendered component, theweb-based application processes the information and generates markup fora new page of the flow 100. For the new page, the user may fill outinformation in the items or activate buttons and tabs, thereby causinganother page to be rendered. This process repeats until the user logsout or otherwise terminates the session.

Architectural Overview

FIG. 2 illustrates the architecture of one embodiment of the presentinvention for deploying a web-based application, in which a web client201 is in communication with a network 203. The web client 201 can be abrowser capable of rendering markup related to the web-basedapplication, and the network 203 can include an intranet or a packetswitching network such as the Internet.

In addition to rendering markup for the user of the web-basedapplication, the web client 201 is also configured to send messages toan application server 211 via the network 203 using a protocol such asthe hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). This messages may include, forexample, requests to fetch (“GET”) a page identified by a UniformResource Locator (URL) and to send (“POST”) data entered by the userinto a form rendered by the web client 201.

The application server 211 is responsible for receiving requests fromthe web client 201 and passing the requests onto a database server 213with minimal processing and receives marked up results from the databaseserver 213. The application server 211 can be implemented in variousways, including as a separate process for receiving HTTP requests andsubmitting procedure calls to the database server 213 or as a built-incomponent of the database server 213 itself.

The database server 213 manages all the information and instructionsnecessary to execute the main functionality of a web-based applicationin accordance with this embodiment of the present invention.Specifically, database server 213 employs a runtime engine 215 andmaintains the following collections of data that store the persistentstate, behavior, user interface, and transient state of the webapplication, respectively: application data 221, display templates 223,application logic 225, and session state 227.

The application data 221 contains the persistent state of the web-basedapplication. For example, if the web-based application is an on-linecatalog, then the application data 221 would contain descriptions of theproducts offered for sale and orders to purchase the products made bycustomers using the web-based application.

The display templates 223 contain information specifying thelook-and-feel of the web-based application. More specifically, thedisplay templates 223 define many aspects of the display of a page,including how each page 101 and regions 110 and 120 on the page 101 areto be rendered. The templates include boilerplate markup withplaceholders for generated markup text to be inserted at specific pointsin the boilerplate. The web-based application developer need not specifya template for each and every page, because a default template isavailable.

The application logic 225 records the information for controllingnavigation between the pages, processing the data entered by the user,and other operations necessary to implement the workflow logic of theweb-based application. For example, the application logic 225 may recordcomputations that are performed on the user's data (e.g. the computationof sales tax), conditional branching (e.g. determining which page to goto based on the value of data), processing (e.g. the storage of theuser's input in the application data 221), and validation of the user'sinput for syntactical correction.

The session state 227 is internally identified by a session ID or byuser. Sessions are a logical concept that allows multiple page views tobe identified as all part of a single logical “session”. This, everygenerated page view by the web-based application is associated with asession ID. Web-based applications that are authenticated (i.e. requirea user to login) also maintain the concept of a user. Different userscould use a “public” web-based application (an application that does notrequire the user to login), in which each user would have a uniquesession. However, interactions with the flow would be conducted with therights and privileges of a single user (typically a “public user”).Session state 227 is broad term used to maintain values for: Flow Items,Page Items, Flow Preferences, Collections, which are variables thatstore transient state for the current session.

The runtime engine 215, which can be implemented as a PL/SQL(Programming Language/Structured Query Language, available from OracleCorp.) package, contains at least two entry points: show and accept,which correspond to the GET and POST requests, respectively. The text ofthe URL in the requests received from the web client 201 identifies anentry point in the runtime engine 215 along with parameter. In oneembodiment, the text of the URL employs a syntax to identify a specificflow and page combination. In one implementation, this syntax takes thefollowing form: “f?p=Flow:Page:Session:Request: . . . ”, where “Flow”contains the Flow ID of the web-based application, “Page” contains thePage ID of the particular page being specified, “Session” identifies aparticular instance of the web-based application the user is using, and“Request” identifies the button or tab that the user has clicked on.Other parameters, such as those relating to debugging or clearingcaches, may be appended to the URL.

The application server 211 converts the URL text into a databaseprocedure call that causes the database server 213 to invoke thecorresponding entry point in the runtime engine 215. In response, theruntime engine 215 integrates the application data 221, displaytemplates 223, application logic 225, and session state 227 in responseto calls relayed by the application server 211 to produce a pagecomprising markup output that is sent back to the application server 211and then ultimately to the web client 201 where the page is rendered forthe user.

Because all the information necessary for executing the web-basedapplication is stored in the database, web-based applications inaccordance with this aspect of the present invention are easy to developand upgrade. In particular, developers can use a web browser to interactwith the database server 213 from anywhere in the world to create andupdate the application data 221, display templates 223, applicationlogic 225 information. Upgrading the web-based application isstraightforward, because all the changes for the tables for the upgradedweb-based application can be applied in a single database transactionand committed at one time. While the changes are being applied in thetransaction, users continue to use the older version of the web-basedapplication until the all the changes are committed. Then, the users ofthe web-based application will automatically use the newer version ofthe web-based application for their transactions that begin after thechanges were committed, so that the next time that the users will accessa page in a session, that page will be generated from the newer versionof web-based application. As a result, upgraded web-applications can beredeployed in the midst of the users' sessions without forcing the usersto stop their session.

Furthermore, the application engine 215 itself can also be upgradedwithout disruption. For example, the new version of the applicationengine 215 can be installed in its own schema, different from the schemaof the previous version. When the new version is ready to go live, apublic synonym for the application engine 215 is modified to point tothe version in the new schema, and the users automatically use the newerversion of the application engine 215.

Display Templates

The display templates 223 data govern the user interface of theweb-based application. Further details of the display templates 223 dataare shown in FIG. 3.

Each page 300 in a flow is identified by a Page ID attribute 301 and aFlow ID attribute 302. Combined with the Flow ID attribute 302, the PageID attribute 301 uniquely identifies a particular page in the web-basedapplication. Navigating to a page using the “f?p” URL syntax isperformed using three primary attributes: a Flow ID, a Page ID and asession ID, e.g.: “f?p=100:1:&SESSION.” In this example, 100 is the FlowID, 1 the Page ID and a &SESSION substitution string that is replacedwith the user session ID. The name attribute 303 is a descriptive namefor the page. This name is not part of any user interface (UI) generatedby the flow-rendering engine; rather, the page identifying text in theuser interface is indicated by the title attribute 304. A page 300 alsohas a page template 305 and page attributes 306. Page templates 305control how a page is displayed and define the look of the web-basedapplication, and page attributes specify the default text and markup tobe inserted to the page templates 305 for substitutable strings.

Each flow identifies a page template 300 to be used as a default-pagetemplate. In addition, an error-page template and a printer-friendlytemplate may be defined. The error-page template, which can be the sameas the default-page template, is used each time an error page isgenerated. The printer-friendly template is used when a user requests apage to be view in a printer friendly mode (e.g. without tabs ornavigational aid, etc.) so that the page can be printed nicely.

A flow can have any number of page templates 305, and each page withinthe flow can specify a specific page template or, if no page template isexplicitly specified, the default-page template is used. In oneembodiment, a page template 305 contains the markup tags to open eachmarkup document or page. For example, a page template in HTML typicallycontains tags such as <HTML><BODY></BODY></HTML>.

Page templates 305 can be quite complex because they use any of thefeatures available for marked up web pages, including cascading stylesheets, open HTML forms, and display of images. To support a declarativeprogramming model, the page templates 305 may include placeholders forsubstitution strings, such as #BODY#. The #BODY# substitution stringidentified where the standard regions are to be places. Somesubstitution strings such as #NAVIGATION_BAR# have sub-templates thatexpand the definition of how a navigational bar is to be displayed. Inone embodiment, at least the following page template substitutionstrings are available:

The #ONLOAD# substitution string is included within the markup bodydefinition used to set the cursor into first field of the page. The#TITLE# substitution string is used for the page title (typically withinHTML <TITLE></TITLE> tags). The #TAB_CELLS# and #NAVIGATION_BAR#substitution strings covers the formatting of the tabs 105 andnavigation bar 103, respectively. The #NOTIFICATION_MESSAGE#substitution string is set by application developers to communicatemessages to the user. The #SUCCESS_MESSAGE# substitution string is usedwhen a page process is successful.

Some page template substitution strings require additional attributes.In this case, the high-level template substitution string merelyindicates existence and placement within a page template, and asub-template definition is expanded to specify exactly how itscomponents are displayed. For example, the body title used by a#BODY_TITLE# header substitution string is the page sub-title attribute.The page title attribute defines the #TITLE# substitution string. Thedisplay of the page sub-title (body title) can be customized by addingmarkup before and after the display of the sub-title; e.g.<b>#BODY_TITLE#</b>.

Templates are static text, with placeholders for dynamic content. Forexample, the #BODY# substitution string can be substituted with dynamicand conditional region content. However, dynamic components can also beadded to the page. Dynamic text into a page template by using a databasetag, which allow one to code a database processing language such asPL/SQL directly. For example, if it is desired to run PL/SQL routinesthat generate HTML for every page that references this template, thenthe following database tag may be used: <ORACLE>htp.p(‘hello’);</ORACLE>

Buttons 310 are provided for processing or navigational purposes. Theattributes of a button 310 include a Page ID 311 and a Flow 312, whichspecifies the particular page the button 310 located upon. Every button310 on a page is assigned a sequence number 312 that is unique to thepage for identification. The region in which the button 310 is disposedis further indicated by the region attribute 314, and the regiontemplate for the region handles the exact position the button ispositioned.

The name attribute 315 holds the internal name of the button. If thename attribute 315 of the button matches a standard name such as CANCEL,FLOW_RESET_BUTTON, FLOW_PREVIOUS_PAGE, and FLOW_NEXT_PAGE, then aspecial meaning is assigned to the button's function.

The image attribute 316 is provided for specifying how the button is tobe rendered on the web client. This attribute may include suchinformation as the pathname of an image file, height and widthinformation, and alternative text information. Additional attributessuch as position and alignment (not shown) may be used to give creategreater control over the look of the web-based application, for example,to place buttons in different places, depending on the look.

The URL redirect attribute 317 specifies a URL when the form data on thepage is not to be submitted to the web-based application. This featureis particularly useful for cancel buttons. The condition attribute 318allows the button to be conditionally displayed. The condition can bedefined by an expression. The page processing attribute 319cross-references to the appropriate logic control in the applicationlogic 225 portion of the web-based application.

A region 320 is area of a page 300. The attributes of a region 320include a Page ID 321 and a Flow 322, which specifies the particularpage upon which the region 320 is located. Every region 320 has a nameattribute 323 holds an internal name of the region and a sequence number324 that is unique to the page for identification. A page 300 can haveany number of regions 320. Regions 320 allow other page attributes suchas buttons and items to be associated with a region 320. Page attributesthat are associated with a region 320 are only displayed if the regionis displayed.

Regions are displayed using a region template 325. Region templates 325can be minimalist (e.g. generate no additional markup) or elaborate(e.g. generate markup tables and images that box the content). Regiontemplates 325 have two structured positions: the body and the title. Thebody identifies where the source 326 of the region is to be placed. Avery simplistic region template would include just the text of thesource 326: #BODY#.

In addition to the title and body substitution strings, region templatesalso support specific button positions. When a button is created, thebutton can go in a generic region position such as TOP or BOTTOM, but tohave control over the exact placement of the button within a region, thebutton can be specified to go into a region position. For example, if abutton is specified to go into “region position EDIT”, then the regiontemplate for the region would include a #EDIT# substitution string toplace the button. Other region positions for buttons, as specified byregion substitution strings, may include: #CREATE#, #HELP#, #CLOSE#,#EXPAND#, #NEXT#, and #PREVIOUS#.

The source or content of a region is indicated by the source attribute326. The region source is interpreted differently based on its type.Various types of sources 326 are supported, which may include thefollowing: HTML_TEXT, which can include markup text based substitutions;JAVA, in which the source is java code that outputs markup;PLSQL_PROCEDURE, which is a PL/SQL anonymous block that is rundynamically at execute time and outputs markup, e.g. htp.p(‘helloworld’); FUNCTION_RETURNING_SQL_QUERY, which is a PL/SQL function bodythat returns a SQL query that returns rows of data; SQL_QUERY, which isa standard SQL query; and URL, which means to go to the URL specified inthe region body, retrieve the content, and put the retrieved contentinto the region.

Application Logic

As shown in FIG. 4, there are at least four types of application logic225 managed by the database sever 213: branching logic 400, computationlogic 410, validation logic 420, and process logic 430.

A branch is an instruction to go to a specific page, procedure, or URL.For example, if the user is at page 1 and submits page 1, page 1 canhave a branch that sends the user to page 2, or even back to page 1.Branches can be conditional, so many branches can be considered, and thefirst branch whose conditions are met will be triggered, thus making thebranch occur. Branches can also be unconditional; unconditional brancheshave no conditions and thus are always taken. Branches are considered insequence and occur at pre-specified process points 401.

Branch conditions 402 are evaluated when a page is submitted. If thebranch condition 402 is met or the branch has unconditional (a hardbranch), then the branch is taken. Branches can occur to one of three“destinations”, a PAGE, a URL, or a database procedure, such as PL/SQLprocedure. Branching to a PL/SQL procedure will execute that procedure.Branches 400 are evaluated in sequence within specific processing points401. These processing points 401 include: BEFORE_COMPUTATION, for before“after submit” computations; BEFORE_VALIDATION for before “pagevalidations”; BEFORE_PROCESSING for before “after-submit processing”;and AFTER_PROCESSING for after “after-submit processing”. Some types ofconditions use an additional condition text attribute 403, e.g. tocompare a flow or page item to a specific string.

Page computations 410 allow flow or page items to be reevaluated whenthe page is submitted or displayed. The objective of a page computation410 is to assign a new value to a flow or page level item 411. Forexample, a page level item 411 that holds the current date calledCURRENT_DAY_YYYYMMDD could use the following PL/SQL source:to_char(sysdate, ‘YYYYYMMDD’). The point attribute 412 indicates thecomputation point at which the computation is to occur (e.g.after-submit or before-header). The type attribute 413 indicates whatkind of computation is performed.

If the type attribute 413 is “expression”, then a database expressionsuch as a PL/SQL expression in the code attribute 414 is evaluated. Onthe other hand, sometimes it is useful to set the value of one flow item411 to the value of another. This can be done using Static Textsubstitutions, in which the type attribute 413 is “substitution”. Inthis computation, strings are substituted if an item name is prefixedwith an ampersand in the code attribute 414.

A validation 420 is an edit check. If the validation condition ispositive the edit check passes; if the validation condition is negativethen an error condition is raised. The error message is the error text.Error pages can use their own template; the error template is defined asa flow attribute. Validations 420 occur after submit. Validations 420are performed after after-submit computations and before after-submitprocessing

The validation type attribute 421 indicates the type of the validationin general, and the particular condition that is used for validation.The validation attribute 422 defines the validation edit check withrespect to a particular argument or piece of code. If the validationcheck involves another argument, the validation argument 423 may beused.

A page process 430 performs processing of data. Page processes 430 havecomplete access to the session state 227. Each page can have any numberof page processes. Page processes can succeed (run without error) orfail (run but raise an error). If any process 430 fails then the processerror message text is displayed. Page processes (when they succeed) candisplay a success message in the area so designated by the pagetemplate. Each page process performs one of the following: (1) built-infunctionality, (2) PL/SQL calls, or (3) SQL statements.

The process name attribute 431 serves as an identifier of the process430. The sequence attribute 432 indicates the order in which the process430 is invoked. Processes 430 are executed in order of process points434 and then process sequence 432, so the sequence 432 is used to orderprocesses that fire at the same process point 434. The process typeattribute 433 identifies how to process the process code attribute 435.

The process point 434 indicates when the process 430 fires. Processingpoints 434 can be grouped into two categories: ON_LOAD and ON_SUBMIT.ON_LOAD processing points fire when a page is being displayed or loaded.ON_SUBMIT processing points fire when a page is being processed orsubmitted.

The ON_LOAD processing points include: AFTER_AUTHENTICATION—after useris authenticated for both show and accept; BEFORE_HEADER—before theheader template is displayed; AFTER_HEADER—after header template andbefore body template; BEFORE_BOX_BODY—after body has been “opened”,before box welcome text; BEFORE_SHOW_ITEMS—before any page items aredisplayed; AFTER_SHOW_ITEMS—after page items, before box footer text;AFTER_BOX_BODY—after box footer text, before “body close”;BEFORE_FOOTER—before footer template, after “body close”;AFTER_FOOTER—after footer template.

The ON_SUBMIT processing points include: AFTER_AUTHENTICATION—after useris authenticated for both show and accept; AFTER_SUBMIT—This is thedefault process point for performing non-display processing. Allprocessing that generates HTML is expected to be one of the above,listed in the order in which they will be displayed. Processes 430 canbe conditional as specified by their attributes (not shown) or beresponsive to action on the button specified in the button attribute436.

Logical Session Management

One aspect of the present invention is directed to logical sessionmanagement architecture, in which each page view uses a distinctdatabase session (including log in and log off). Therefore, this aspectis directed to an asynchronous, stateless application model. If, on theother hand, a synchronous connection is used as in the three-tier model,then a database session would be maintained over multiple page views,consuming valuable virtual memory for hold the session state, even forusers that are not actively using the database.

A logical session model is adopted for two reasons: first, because ofthe asynchronous (stateless) nature of interactive web-basedapplications; and, second, for performance. Web-based applications areasynchronous (stateless), in that a network connection need not be keptopen during requests or other interactions. In fact, withweb-applications, there may be no predictable pattern in the user'sinteraction; a user of a web-based application may generate numerouspage views in a minute, and then not generate another page view forhours.

Maintaining a physical database session is expensive with respect toserver resources. A physical database connection consumes memory andother database server resources. However, a web-based application inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention does not maintaina database session between requests, by connecting (logging in) anddisconnecting (logging out) for each page view request. Thus, theweb-based application need not consume any database resources during theuser's “think time” or the time between requests. This feature allows aweb-based application in accordance with this embodiment to make anarbitrary number of requests at arbitrary intervals without consumingany server resources between the requests.

The net result is that only the pages being generated or processedconcurrently have active sessions in the database. This allows a largenumber of users to interact with the web-based application in accordancewith this embodiment since the database does not maintain a databasesession for the duration of the users interaction with the web-basedapplication, but only for the fraction of a second required to generateor process a page request.

Depending on the authentication method selected, the runtime engine 215determines the user for each “page show” or “page process” request. Eachrequest to view a page contains a “Session ID”. If no Session ID ispassed, then a new Session ID is generated. One user can have any numberof sessions (identified by distinct Session ID's). Each page passesSession ID's to the runtime engine 215 using hidden HTML form fields orvia a URL. The Session ID is the key used to access the session state.

Session state 227 is maintained using database tables by the databaseserver 213. Each “set” request generates a SQL UPDATE or INSERTstatement on a session state table 227. The primary key of the table isthe Session ID combined with the ItemID. Requests to “set” session stateto a value equal to the current value is short circuited (i.e., notperformed) to improve performance. The table used to store session statecontains one row per item per session. Information about a session ismaintained in a parent table whose primary key is the Session ID. Thus,the parent table contains one row per physical session.

Flow and page item values are remembered from page to page, and adeveloper can reference these values as necessary. Session state allowsthe developer to reference items set on a previous page view. Thus,there is no need for the application server to carry session state frompage to page.

The session information can be referenced using the bind variablesyntax: item_Name from SQL and PL/SQL. For example, the v(‘ITEM_NAME’)function can be called from PL/SQL packages, procedures, and functions.In markup text, the &ITEM_NAME syntax may be used, and Java code caninvoke wwvFlowJava.v(“ITEM_NAME”). In all of these cases, the ITEM_NAMEis resolved into the value of the items that was referenced byITEM_NAME.

Items can be defined at two levels: the flow level and the page level,corresponding to application and user interface variables, respectively.The scope of items created at the flow level is global so that any itemvalue declared at the flow level can be referenced from any page. Pagelevel items are also global in scope, but, unlike flow level items, theyare designed to be markup form fields. Flow level items are designed tobe global variables.

Flow level items, like page level items, are always persistentthroughout the logical session but are defined on an application-widebasis. Thus, once a value is set for a flow level item, that value isremembered for the duration of the logical session. If a flow levelitem's value has not been set in the logical session, then the flowlevel item's value is null when referenced.

Page level items are similar to flow level items except page level itemsare an attribute of a page. If the page is deleted then all of the pagelevel items are deleted with it. Page level items are similar to flowlevel items except the definition of a page level item contains a largenumber of display attributes, all of which are not available in flowlevel items. Page level items also have a source and default attribute.These values are set when the page is referenced. Page level items alsooffer more control over how the session state is managed. Page levelitems have an attribute that controls session state management: usecache before default

The “use cache” attribute is Boolean. A true/yes value indicates thatthe “cached item value” overrides “item source value”. A false/no valueof NO indicates that the “item source value” overrides “cached itemvalue”. The “cached item value” is the value of the item maintained inthe session state 227. The “item source value” for a page item isidentified as a page item attribute. The item source value sets thevalue for an item. The value can come from one of two places, namely astatic value or expression defined in the “item source value” or thevalue already set and maintained in the “cache”.

Operational Overview

Referring now to FIG. 5, depicted is a flowchart showing the operationof one embodiment of the present invention. At step 501, the applicationserver 211 receives a URL from a web client 201 that identifies aweb-based application. The user at the web client 201 is thenauthenticated and a Session ID is generated to identify a logicalsession for the user (step 503).

In order to show the first page of the web-based application, theapplication server 211 initiates a database session by connecting to thedatabase server 213 (step 505) and calls a show page routine in theruntime engine 215 to obtain the markup of the page for the web client201 (step 507). The operation of the show page routine (step 507) isdescribed in greater detail hereinafter. After obtaining the markup atstep 509, the application 211 terminates the database session bydisconnecting from the database server 213, thereby freeing up valuablesystem resources for another user who may need to access the databaseserver while the first user is thinking or filling out the form at theweb client 201. Lightweight TCP login and logout procedures can be usedto connect and disconnect, respectively, with the database server 213.

At some point (step 511), the user at the web client 201 will perform anaction that requires use of the application server 211 and databaseserver 213 resources. For example, the user may click on a button,navigational tab, or otherwise generate a new URL that requests anotherpage in the web-based application without posting data. In this case,execution branches back to step 505, where another database session isinitiated, the page is rendered (step 507) and the database session isterminated (step 509). Execution returns to step 511 where theapplication server 211 waits for another user action without typing upsystem resources other than the information in the session state 227database objects.

Alternatively, the user may post the form data to the web-basedapplication, in which case execution branches to step 513, where yetanother physical database session is initiated. The posted data isaccepted in step 515 and markup for the resulting page is generated andtransmitted to the web client 201. To detect the presence of multiple,simultaneous, and conflicting updated to the same information by theusers, a checksum may be used to verify the integrity of the datawithout requiring complex and slow synchronization procedures such as atwo-phase commit. Thereafter, the physical database session isterminated (step 517) to free up system resources for another user.Execution returns to step 511 where the application server 211 waits foranother user action without typing up system resources other than theinformation in the session state 227 database objects.

If a user is particularly active and is involved in repeated initiatingand terminating database connections, it is likely that the sessionstate data for this user migrates to a high-speed buffer cache.Therefore, the apparent performance penalty of storing session stateinformation in the database rather than directly in virtual memory isabsent. Eventually, the user will log out from the web-based applicationor simply fail to act within a preset period (e.g. 8 hours or 8 years).In this event, the session state of the use is flushed (step 519).

Show Processing

One implementation of generating the markup for a page is shown in FIG.6. It may be thought that using application logic 225 in a databasewould be much slower than executing compiled, native machine code 813.However, a combination of database techniques may be employed to achieveunexpectedly prompt performance. In particular, when a database executesa particular SQL statement, that SQL statement is parsed and anexecution plan is generated. This information, the parsed SQL statementand the execution plan, are saved in a data structure called a cursor,which can be reused by other users if the SQL statement is byte-for-byteidentical. Therefore, this implementation of the present invention isconfigured to ensure that the SQL statements to fetch data from thedatabase are constant with respect to different users and session. Thisrequirement is attained by using bind variables in the SQL statement topass the user and session-specific information when the SQL statement isexecuted so that the parsed SQL statement and the execution plan can bereused without additional overhead.

When a page is shown, at least for the first time, step 601 is executedin which SQL code is fetched from the database. This SQL may have beenspecified in the source attribute 326 of the region 320 of the page 310.At step 603, the fetched SQL statement is parsed to identify the bindvariables. The values for the bind variables are fetched from thesession state 227 (step 605), and the SQL statement is executed with thefetched values (step 607) to obtain the relevant application data 221.This SQL statement may have already been parsed into a cursor, so muchof the overhead associated with executing a SQL statement is obviated.

At step 609, the results of the step 607 are merged with the displaytemplates 223 to produce the markup for transmission to and rendering atthe web client 201. In one embodiment, steps 601–609 are bypassed if theresult of step 609 had previously been saved in a region markup cache.The saved markup can be associated with a Flow ID and/or a Session ID.Accordingly, the reuse of generated markup on a per-application,per-user, or per-session can be achieved.

Hardware Overview

FIG. 7 illustrates a computer system 700 upon which an embodimentaccording to the present invention can be implemented. The computersystem 700 includes a bus 701 or other communication mechanism forcommunicating information and a processor 703 coupled to the bus 701 forprocessing information. The computer system 700 also includes mainmemory 705, such as a random access memory (RAM) or other dynamicstorage device, coupled to the bus 701 for storing information andinstructions to be executed by the processor 703. Main memory 705 canalso be used for storing temporary variables or other intermediateinformation during execution of instructions by the processor 703. Thecomputer system 700 may further include a read only memory (ROM) 707 orother static storage device coupled to the bus 701 for storing staticinformation and instructions for the processor 703. A storage device709, such as a magnetic disk or optical disk, is coupled to the bus 701for persistently storing information and instructions.

The computer system 700 may be coupled via the bus 701 to a display 711,such as a cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display, active matrixdisplay, or plasma display, for displaying information to a computeruser. An input device 713, such as a keyboard including alphanumeric andother keys, is coupled to the bus 701 for communicating information andcommand selections to the processor 703. Another type of user inputdevice is a cursor control 715, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursordirection keys, for communicating direction information and commandselections to the processor 703 and for controlling cursor movement onthe display 711.

According to one embodiment of the invention, its functionality isprovided by the computer system 700 in response to the processor 703executing an arrangement of instructions contained in main memory 705.Such instructions can be read into main memory 705 from anothercomputer-readable medium, such as the storage device 709. Execution ofthe arrangement of instructions contained in main memory 705 causes theprocessor 703 to perform the process steps described herein. One or moreprocessors in a multi-processing arrangement may also be employed toexecute the instructions contained in main memory 705. In alternativeembodiments, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or incombination with software instructions to implement the embodiment ofthe present invention. Thus, embodiments of the present invention arenot limited to any specific combination of hardware circuitry andsoftware.

The computer system 700 also includes a communication interface 717coupled to bus 701. The communication interface 717 provides a two-waydata communication coupling to a network link 719 connected to a localnetwork 721. For example, the communication interface 717 may be adigital subscriber line (DSL) card or modem, an integrated servicesdigital network (ISDN) card, a cable modem, a telephone modem, or anyother communication interface to provide a data communication connectionto a corresponding type of communication line. As another example,communication interface 717 may be a local area network (LAN) card (e.g.for Ethernet™ or an Asynchronous Transfer Model (ATM) network) toprovide a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. Wirelesslinks can also be implemented. In any such implementation, communicationinterface 717 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic, or opticalsignals that carry digital data streams representing various types ofinformation. Further, the communication interface 717 can includeperipheral interface devices, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB)interface, a PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card InternationalAssociation) interface, etc. Although a single communication interface717 is depicted in FIG. 7, multiple communication interfaces can also beemployed.

The network link 719 typically provides data communication through oneor more networks to other data devices. For example, the network link719 may provide a connection through local network 721 to a hostcomputer 723, which has connectivity to a network 725 (e.g. a wide areanetwork (WAN) or the global packet data communication network nowcommonly referred to as the “Internet”) or to data equipment operated bya service provider. The local network 721 and network 725 both useelectrical, electromagnetic, or optical signals to convey informationand instructions. The signals through the various networks and thesignals on network link 719 and through communication interface 717,which communicate digital data with computer system 700, are exemplaryforms of carrier waves bearing the information and instructions.

The computer system 700 can send messages and receive data, includingprogram code, through the network(s), network link 719, andcommunication interface 717. In the Internet example, a server (notshown) might transmit requested code belonging an application programfor implementing an embodiment of the present invention through thenetwork 725, local network 721 and communication interface 717. Theprocessor 703 may execute the transmitted code while being receivedand/or store the code in storage device 79, or other non-volatilestorage for later execution. In this manner, computer system 700 mayobtain application code in the form of a carrier wave.

The term “computer-readable medium” as used herein refers to any mediumthat participates in providing instructions to the processor 705 forexecution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limitedto non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.Non-volatile media include, for example, optical or magnetic disks, suchas storage device 709. Volatile media include dynamic memory, such asmain memory 705. Transmission media include coaxial cables, copper wire,and fiber optics, including the wires that comprise bus 701.Transmission media can also take the form of acoustic, optical, orelectromagnetic waves, such as those generated during radio frequency(RF) and infrared (IR) data communications. Common forms ofcomputer-readable media include, for example, a floppy disk, a flexibledisk, hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM,CDRW, DVD, any other optical medium, punch cards, paper tape, opticalmark sheets, any other physical medium with patterns of holes or otheroptically recognizable indicia, a RAM, a PROM, and EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM,any other memory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other mediumfrom which a computer can read.

Various forms of computer-readable media may be involved in providinginstructions to a processor for execution. For example, the instructionsfor carrying out at least part of the present invention may initially beborne on a magnetic disk of a remote computer. In such a scenario, theremote computer loads the instructions into main memory and sends theinstructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem of a localcomputer system receives the data on the telephone line and uses aninfrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal andtransmit the infrared signal to a portable computing device, such as apersonal digital assistant (PDA) or a laptop. An infrared detector onthe portable computing device receives the information and instructionsborne by the infrared signal and places the data on a bus. The busconveys the data to main memory, from which a processor retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by main memory canoptionally be stored on storage device either before or after executionby processor.

While the present invention has been described in connection with anumber of embodiments and implementations, the present invention is notso limited but covers various obvious modifications and equivalentarrangements, which fall within the purview of the appended claims.

1. A method for operating a web-based application, comprising: storing acollection of data for use to execute the functionality of theapplication in a database; receiving a request from a user to perform anoperation within the application, said application comprising acollection of pages stored in the database and said request indicatingat least a page number corresponding to a page of the application;converting the request into a database procedure call corresponding tothe operation; retrieving an instruction corresponding to the databaseprocedure call from the database based on the page number; performingthe instruction wherein the instruction integrates at least some of thedata in the collection for the application in accordance with theinstruction; and completing the request based on performing theretrieved instruction.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein: theretrieved instruction includes a branch instruction that indicatesanother page within the collection; and said completing the requestincludes rendering the other page indicated by the branch instruction.3. A method according to claim 1, wherein: the application comprises atleast one item stored in the database; the retrieved instructionincludes a computation that refers to the item; and said completing therequest includes updating a value of the item by performing thecomputation.
 4. A method according to claim 1, wherein: the retrievedinstruction includes a validation; and said completing the requestincludes presenting an error message based on performing the validation.5. A method according to claim 1, further comprising: performing theinstruction when a page is being rendered.
 6. A method according toclaim 1, further comprising: performing the instruction in response to asubmit request from the user.
 7. A method according to claim 1, wherein:the request includes a logical session identifier; and said completingthe request includes retrieving at least some session state from thedatabase based on the logical session identifier and completing therequest based on the retrieved session states.
 8. A method according toclaim 1, wherein: said completing the request includes retrieving adisplay template for the page indicated by the page number and renderingthe page based on the display template.
 9. A computer-readable mediumbearing instructions for operating a web-based application, saidinstructions being arranged, upon execution, to cause one or moreprocessors to perform the method according to claim 1, wherein thecomputer-readable medium is any one of: a volatile memory and anon-volatile memory.
 10. A method for deploying a web-based applicationfrom a development site to a client site, comprising: updating tablesstoring a collection of data for the application in a first database atthe development site, wherein the collection of data provides theinformation to execute the functionality of the application and theapplication comprises a collection of pages and is responsive to aninstruction corresponding to a database procedure call to perform anoperation within the application indicating at least a page numbercorresponding to a page of the application and wherein the databaseprocedure call was converted from a corresponding request to perform theoperation within the application indicating the at least page numbercorresponding to the page of the application; distributing the tablesfrom the development site to a second database at the client site; andtransferring contents of the tables distributed from the developmentsite to corresponding tables at the client site in a single transaction;wherein at least some of the collection of data is operable to beintegrated in accordance with the instruction that is retrieved from thesecond database.
 11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the tablesstoring the application include a collection of pages and applicationlogic.
 12. A method according to claim 11, wherein: the applicationlogic includes a branch instruction that indicates another page withinthe collection such that completing a request from a user includesrendering the other page indicated by the branch instruction.
 13. Amethod according to claim 11, wherein: the application logic includes acomputation that refers to an item such that completing a request from auser includes updating a value of an item by performing the computation.14. A method according to claim 11, wherein: the application includes avalidation such that completing a request from a user includespresenting an error message based on performing the validation.
 15. Amethod according to claim 11, wherein the tables storing the applicationinclude display templates and application data.